


Stronger Than Life Itself

by belle_the_reylo



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo Lives, F/M, Force Dyad (Star Wars), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It, rey and ben try to fit in the same x wing, tros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:40:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23954725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/belle_the_reylo/pseuds/belle_the_reylo
Summary: TROS, but Ben doesn't die.A short one-shot of Rey's resurrection scene courtesy of Ben Solo at the end of The Rise of Skywalker with the added canon-divergent detail of Ben coming back to life. A fluffy, happy ending. With kissing.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 68





	Stronger Than Life Itself

Ben Solo's hand slammed down on the ground.

Struggling, shaking all over, he rose out of the pit with one last heave. He was covered in dirt and his hair was in his face, but his eyes were hyper-focused on one thing.

Rey.

Lying on the cold hard ground.

Not moving.

Gritting his teeth, Ben dragged himself to his feet and limped towards Rey. The distance between them seemed insurmountable and his ribs screamed at each step and something was very, very wrong with his leg, but he kept going.

For Rey.

I'm coming.

Ben fell.

He let out a gasp of pain. It would be so easy to just stay here on the floor, but Rey was so near. Rey needed him.

He needed Rey.

Ben crawled the rest of the way to her.

"Rey." Her name was a whisper in his dry throat. "Rey." Her name was a plea. He reached for her wrist, his own heart pounding as he waited to feel her pulse.

She didn't have one.

Ben had known as much, when he had felt her presence that was always hanging around him, even when they were systems apart, slowly fade away while he was climbing out of the pit. Confirmation still made his entire chest flood with pain.

Hissing through his teeth at the pain, Ben pulled Rey into his arms and shifted—so awkwardly, he didn't want to know what his fall had broken--into a sitting position with Rey lying in his lap. He gently lifted her face to see it better.

Her dead eyes stared into his.

Ben couldn't look at them. He glanced around him, desperately trying to see if anyone else was there, if anyone could help. But he and Rey were alone.

Ben lifted Rey to his chest and hugged her still body, digging his chin into her shoulder in a desperate search for comfort. He was shaking. No, no, no...This couldn't be real. The number of times he had thought about, dreamed about holding her and when it finally happened, she was gone.

Rey was gone.

No.

He wouldn't let that happen.

Not if it killed him.

Ben lowered Rey back into his lap again. He took a deep breath and placed his hand over her still belly. He closed his eyes.

"Reach out." A memory—of his uncle. "What do you feel?"

The Force. Always the Force. It had always been there. He had played with it, hid from it, used it for all the wrong things.

And now he was embracing it. Letting it engulf him.

The Force was forgiving. The Force didn't hold grudges. The Force accepted him again.

With each breath he let out, Ben fed life into Rey. And with each breath he took back in, he felt slightly more weak and dizzy.

In, out. In, out.

Be with me, he thought.

Rey's hand grasped the top of his.

Ben opened his eyes.

Rey was awake. She was alive. She looked shocked, sitting up in his arms and Ben imagined he looked just as stunned as she did. She stared at him for an eternity of seconds. Then she said—

"Ben."

Her face breaking into the biggest smile Ben had ever seen as she said his name.

Ben couldn't speak for his overwhelming relief. All he could do was smile at Rey as she touched his face. Her mouth moved, trying to form words she couldn't say, but Ben understood. I know. He caressed the back of her neck with his hand.

Then she kissed him.

Ben's arms automatically wrapped around Rey, as he melted into her lips. The kiss felt like it lasted forever and at the same time, no time at all. Ben felt slightly lightheaded when they finally pulled apart.

Rey gave him a small smile, concern flickering behind her eyes at how he would receive the kiss.

But she needn't have worried. 

Ben Solo smiled from ear-to-ear. He hadn't smiled like that in years. His face ached making the expression. And he had never, ever felt so happy.

But then he felt it. He was fading away. Ah. He had known this would happen. And while he would have done the same thing a thousand times over, he couldn't stop the feeling of sadness at the knowledge he had to leave Rey so soon.

The last thing he saw was Rey's fading smile.

And the last thing he felt was her hand, trying to stop him from falling.

***

"Ben."

He lay flat on his back, eyes closed. It looked like he was sleeping.

"Ben, no, please."

His hand was still clutched in hers, she could still taste him on her lips. Rey stroked Ben's hair with a shaky hand.

He was unresponsive.

Tears built up in Rey's eyes. "Come back," she said, her voice breaking.

She rested her head on Ben's still chest, shaking all over. Help us, she pleaded the Jedi of old, but there was no response. They were only there when she had to kill Palpatine, not when she wanted to save Ben.

Rey made herself look up at Ben's face. She stroked a finger down his face where his scar had once been. She could barely see through her tears.

"Ben," she whispered. 

Ben didn't move.

Rey choked out a sob and buried her head back in Ben's chest. She shook both of their bodies as she cried.

Could she bring him back? She felt so weak: Ben must have lost a lot of his own strength while transferring it to her. She would definitely die giving it back to him and maybe what she could give him wouldn't be enough. Then they'd both be dead.

Or was that really such a bad thing?

Rey cleared her throat and sat up. She had to try. But something was happening.

White...mist was swirling between their bodies in wisps. Rey's eyes widened and she jerked back, but the string-like particles going out of her chest into Ben's easily stretched with her. They were bound together.

A dyad in the Force. Rey winced as Palpatine's voice crept back into her mind. A bond stronger than life itself.

The mist orbited around her and Ben long enough for Rey to become mesmerized by it, the substance looking shinier through the filter of tears. But then the mist changed, it stopped rotating above Ben and was absolutely still for a beat.

Then it shot down like shooting stars into Ben's chest.

Rey jumped in surprise at the sudden action. She stared at Ben's body in some mixture of horror and hope, barely breathing for anticipation. She squeezed his hand, which had never left her own.

Ben stayed still.

Rey closed her eyes. Be with me, she thought calmly. Be with me.

Ben let out an abrupt gasp.

***

Darkness.

That was all he saw, that was all he felt.

Quiet.

Alone.

But not peaceful.

But then he felt something. Something reaching out to him through all the dust of nothingness. Rey's hand, still holding his.

Rey.

Ben opened his eyes.

"Ben!"

Rey jerked him up to a sitting position by his arm. The world spun around him for a few seconds, but then reality settled and he saw her face.

Ben smiled. "Rey."

Rey let out something between a sob and a laugh either and wrapped her arms around his neck. Ben's hand quickly flew to the back of her head and his fingers slid in-between her buns like they were meant to be there. His lips found hers and he kissed her, revelling in every second of it, because they had time to. Rey responded enthusiastically, her fingers moving through his hair, making Ben wonder if he was going to pass out again. Either way, he lay back down with Rey on top of him.

She broke apart to stare at his face and he laughed, shaking with pure happiness. Rey quickly joined in, and her snorts and giggles the cutest thing Ben had ever heard.

"You came back," she said as he tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. 

Ben wasn't sure if she meant to Exogul, or from death, so he just smiled at her and said "I did."

“I knew you would,” she said.

Rey leaned down over him and Ben's mouth opened before she kissed him again. He hugged her to his chest and kissed her back. Rey pulled back.

"You're smiling too much," she laughed. "It's all teeth."

"I'm sorry," he said, sitting back up to get his mouth back on his. But the movement made his leg scream. "Ow."

Rey's smile turned into a frown at his wince of pain. She glanced down at his leg. "Is it broken?"

"It's something," he said, trying not to scream at the pain.

Rey looked around them, perhaps for the first time since he had woken her up. Careful not to hurt Ben, she got to her feet. Ben frowned up at her.

Rey offered him her hand. "Let's get out of here," she said, her voice firm.

Ben took her hand.

***

They stumbled their way out of the Sith ruins, laughing when a limping Ben put too much weight on Rey's arm and they almost toppled over. They must have looked very pathetic, Ben leaning too much on Rey, then Rey leaning too much on him, but they couldn't stop giggling.

When they got to Luke's X-Wing, Rey pushed Ben up against the nose of the ship as she scrambled on top on it to open the cockpit and pull the ladder out.

"Can you climb?" Rey asked him.

"Um, yes, but I can just take the TIE, Rey," said Ben, putting all his weight on his good leg.

"No, you're not," said Rey firmly. "I'm not letting you out of my sight and I don't know how you didn't crash flying in without a Wayfinder. You are coming with me."

Ben shrugged. "Okay," he relented and grabbed the first ladder rung and heaved himself up the ladder into the cockpit. He frowned at the space left after he was in.

"You're not going to fit, Rey," he said.

"We'll see," huffed Rey, climbing up the ladder. She hesitated when she saw just how little room was left, but she stubbornly stuck her foot in-between Ben's legs and lowered herself into the cockpit. 

"Um," frowned Ben, spreading his legs as far apart as the space would allow as Rey settled herself between them.

"See? We fit." Rey's face was burning red. "Give me the seat-belt," she demanded, reaching her hand back.

"I think I'm sitting on it," said Ben.

"Typical, Ben—oh!" Rey shut up as he pressed against her back to get the seat belt out from underneath him. He settled back and handed her the belt.

"Thank you," she said quietly as she buckled the seat belt, leaning back against Ben. "This is very cramped."

"It's almost like X-Wings were only designed to hold one person," said Ben sarcastically as he put the ship's helmet on Rey.

Her hands flew to the helmet's straps. "What about you?" she asked.

"I just fell down a pit, Rey, I think I'll be fine," said Ben. "Just don't crash."

"Try not to distract me then," mumbled Rey, flicking the start-up switches. Ben reached out to help, but after realizing he was causing more awkward closeness and hand-brushing, he settled back to let Rey do the flying.

It was kind of nice, Ben reflected as Rey expertly took off, to be the passenger, not the pilot for once.

"You're a good pilot," he told her.

"I know," Rey said smugly.

Ben looked down at Exogul as the tiny X-Wing flew away from the crumbled shell of a planet.

"I never want to go back there again," he said quietly.

"And we won't," said Rey, taking a hand off the controls long enough to rub his (good) leg comfortingly.

Ben leaned forward. "Look at me."

"I thought you told me not to crash." But she looked back anyways.

Ben tilted her face towards him so he could kiss the bit of her face not covered by the helmet. "Stupid helmet getting in the way," he mumbled, gently planting a flurry of quick kisses on her parted lips.

"Now you know how I feel," said Rey.

Ben stared at her.

With a small smile on her face, Rey pulled back the lever to go into lightspeed and the tiny X-Wing shot away from the ruins of Exogul.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I've been AWOL for a while, but I'm hoping to write a LOT of Reylo fic over the summer. 
> 
> I actually wrote this back in January but my procrastinating habits made it so that I am only posting it now. I hope it makes some sad Reylos feel better: I did writing it.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr under the same username. Thanks for reading :)


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